andrea mitchell's interview with hillary clinton. all topics on the table including benghazi, her health and 2016. pl plus alex rodriguez. he may have played his last game in a uniform after a new report alleges he took performance enhancing drugs as recently as last season. but first, let's get to the news live here at 5:30 a.m. eastern time. a little more than a week after highlighting the issue during his inauguration speech, president obama laid out his plan for immigration reform. the image of a campaign speech, the president went to north dakota where the hispanic population is 20%. >> the good news is for the first time in many years, republicans and democrats seem ready to tackle this problem together. this moment it looks like there's a genuine desire to get

this done soon. that's very encouraging. but this time action must follow. we can't allow immigration reform to get bogged down in an endless debate. we have been debating this for a long time. the principles are pretty straight forward. first, i believe we need to stay focused on enforcement. that means continue k to strengthening security at our borders. we need to implement a national system that allows businesses to quickly and accurately verify someone's employment status. second, we have to deal with the 11 million individuals who are here illegally. we all agree that these men and women should have to earn their way to citizenship. but for comprehensive immigration reform to work, it

must be clear that there is a pathway to citizenship. >> the president who claimed 70% of the hispanic vote say he would push forward his own legislation. >> to help move this process along, today i'm laying out my ideas for immigration reform. and my hope is that this provides some key markers to members of congress as they craft a bill. the ideas i'm proposing have traditionally been supported by democrats like ted kennedy and republicans like president george w. bush. you don't get that matchup very often. so we know where the consensus should be. if congress is unable to move forward in a timely fashion, i will send up a bill based on my proposal and insist that they vote on it right away. >> the president's speech stopped short of backing a plan

outlined the day before by influential senators. the gang of eight has proposed a pathway to citizenship. senator rubio did his best to sell it to right laush limbaugh idea. >> we have border security, we need workplace enforce m, we need a visa tracking system. all three of those have to happen. these are just principles. i agree this is going to be a challenge. in fact, this bill does not have real triggers. there's not language that guarantees that nothing else will happen unless these enforcement mechanisms are in place, i wouldn't support it. >> mike allen, good morning to you. on monday we heard from the gang of eight. yesterday, the president. any chance we hear from boehner and house republicans today? >> they are being quiet. the house republicans will be a real challenge for this bill.

over the weekend, we have seen it unfold here on "morning joe." we have seen a tech tonic change on where the movement is on this issue. just monday rush limbaugh said it was up to him and fox news to kill this it bill. but yesterday in that clip that we just heard from senator rubio, rush limbaugh who rarely changes his mind softens his position. he did say the obama administration was running a no-huddle offense on america. first guns, then amnesty. but he went to say that if the plan would work the way senator rubio described it, that he would be for it. it would be important to do. it's a problem that needs to be solved. so the republicans rhetoric is meeting up with the electoral reality. but the problem is getting enough house members who feel like an incentive to do it back

home. so many members are from deep red districts. the president has done something and that is to put it up as one big bill instead of chewable bites. that means the house might choke on it. >> so we e had the gang of eight. rubio is the shining star out of this. is he being boosted way up? >> absolutely. he's done more than talk. he's done something in washington, which is hard to do. and he went back on what he said less than two months ago. he told me at a politico breakfast he thought it would be smarter to do this in pieces, to build individual coalitions for the parts of the immigration bill. he's gone along with the big bill too. that makes it hard. the president yesterday in his speech in las vegas didn't draw any red lines. left himself room to pull back a little bit from parts of his bill that are different from the senate one.

but we had senator ted cruz of texas, tea party voice, important voice from the southwest, come out yesterday against the bill. that hurt. >> we have more information. andrea mitchell sat down with secretary of state hillary clinton and i want you to listen to some of the sound she had and we'll get your opinion on what you heard. >> what do you think didn't go well? what went wrong? >> benghazi went wrong. that was a terrible example of trying to get the right balance between being in a threatening place or not being there. >> shouldn't a cable warning of a security threat from an ambassador, shouldn't that get the highest attention immediately? >> that's what we're hoping to make sure does happen in the future. the security professionals get it right far more than they get it wrong.

>> clinton discussed the discussion she suffered after fainting. >> i'm healthy enough and my stamina is great enough. i'll be fully recovered to do whatever i choose to do. but i don't have any decisions made. >> are you convinced that the original fall that led to the concussion, are you convinced that that fall was caused by dehydration? have your doctors ruled out a vascular event? >> it was viral. i had a vicious viral attack that caused all of the unpleasant things that viruss can cause. i've certainly gained a great deal of knowledge and sympathy for people who go through that, whether it's on the athletic field or in your bathroom. >> in 2012, you said you had no intention of running for president. in december of 2001 you told tim russert you had no intention of running for president.

>> and i didn't. >> so things change. but do you feel that joe biden as the vice president has the right of first refusal as it were within the party or is it an open e competition if you decide to run? >> american politics is always an open competition, but i have no position on any of this. >> so what did you find most interesting about the interview? >> andrea mitchell proving hing versatility. she made news with the bite where clinton said she was healthy enough to run even though she had no plans. this was a remarkable electronic farewell tour by secretary clinton. she sat pr for an hour and did a global town hall with broadcasters around the world. here admitting that blemish of benghazi, she had such a strong record.

but as she goes out, trying to tie a bow on that point that it's something that was extremely rare for it to happen. but andrea mitchell interview showed she plans to stay in the public stage. she may work with her husband at the bill clinton foundation. she may work some with chelsea clinton but she's going to stay involved. she's going to do another memoir and she's going to sleep in. >> what's that like? >> that's right. >> andrea mitchell will join us later on "morning joe." thank you as always. have a good day. finally, a u.s. army veteran is showing a remarkable sense of determination after losing all four limbs in the iraq war. with the help of modern science and a team of top dream doctors, the young soldier has been given a second chance.

>> reporter: brandon wheeled himself into a packed news conference in baltimore. what's remarkable, he did it with a pair of arms he received just six weeks ago in a double transplant operation. >> i never really accepted the fact that i didn't have arms. so now that i have them again, it's almost like it never happened. >> reporter: as an army private in iraq, he lost both his legs and arms to a roadside bomb. the military's first quadruple amputee to survive. he considered himself lucky. >> i was still alive so that's all that mattered to me at the time. >> reporter: for four years he suffered through the excruciating pain of therapy at walter reid hospital. >> anything that touches them or pushes on them hurts real bad. >> reporter: driven he mastered his artificial limbs, all four of them. that would never be good enough. >> i hated not having arms.

i was all right with not having legs. not having arms takes so much away from you. >> reporter: last december a team of doctors at johns hopkins connected miles of nerves and tendons to transplant two arms. they also transplanted the bone marrow to reduce the threat of rejection. his progress is nothing short of miraculous. the first time he moved his arms was a bit of a shock. >> one of my friends was just like freaking out. he's like, did you do that on purpose? >> reporter: now scratching his nose is second nature. his goal is to some day compete again in sports and drive his car. >> he's stubborn in a good way. >> reporter: he makes it clear nothing is going to stop him and so far nothing has. >> life always gets better. you're still alive.

>> doctors say it could be another three years before we know the full function of his new arms. let us know why you're awake e. shoot us an e-mail or tweet me. we'll read the best responses later in the show. still ahead, some controversy during an usually upbeat media day. ray lewis gets asked about reports he used deer antler spray to recover from injuries. it's a banned substance in the nfl. and the mayor of denver finally lives up to his playoff bet. that story to check on the severe weather conditions when "way too early" comes back.

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time square, foggy around new york city. could get into the 60s today with thunderstorms later tonight at the end of january. this is the weather around the country. many people didn't get much sleep in missouri, arkansas, tennessee, kentucky as the storms roll through. they continue at this hour. they are not weakening either. over 200 reports of wind damage out there. only about three or four tornadoes. no significant tornadoes or fatalities. this setup was ripe for the possibility of that. these storms are rolling now through the louisville area. they have exited. nashville you're safe too. but eastern tennessee and kentucky and southern ohio, the sto

storms are starting to move through alabama. and areas of yellow today still a chance of strong storms. damaging winds that will last for a half hour. pittsburgh, d.c., richmond, atlanta, all the way down through the deep south. you get the picture here. also on the backside, we have a winter storm through iowa and wisconsin. we're only expecting 3 to 6 inches of snow in des moines. high impacts today at the airports. it will be extremely windy throughout the afternoon and evening as the storms will roll through. d.c., late this afternoon. busy weather todayday. let's turn now to sports. two of the most visible athletes have been linked to performance enhancing drugs. we start with major league baseball with reports naming alex rod reegs named on a list from an anti-ageing clinic that dispensed p.e.d.s to a-rod.

they are looking at voiding the remaining five years left on a-rod's contract. his take on the situation. are the yankees going to end up paying him? >> i don't think so. you have probably seen him in a yankees uniform for the last time. you're probably going to see him in the batters box because of all of this. >> let me be selfish. one of my most prized possessions. i went against a-rod's team. he was a second baseman for the other team. can you read out the height and weight? age 16. >> bill karins, 5'8", 130. that's not bad.

>> i was 16. >> let's get to the 15-year-old from the miami team. >> the 15-year-old, there's one alex rodriguez, 5'11", 160. you should have met him at the mcdonald's and had some for lunch. >> let's talk about what's happened since those days. i have put on 40 pounds of pure muscle and a-rod has put on 70. >> and still packing it on. >> that document is now pretty much worthless. >> i have it it now, bill. >> yes, you do. >> let's turn now to the nfl. super bowl media day was dominated by a report that alleges ray lewis used a banned substance to recover from a torn tric tricep. lewis was prescribed deer antler spray, which contains an ingredient prohibited by the nfl. he addressed the allegations

yesterday in new orleans. >> there's never been a question if i ever even thought about using anything. so to even entertain stupidity like that, try to get a story out of somebody else. >> the ravens have backed lewis all the way saying he has never failed a test for p.e.d.s but the nfl said the banned substance in deer antler extractions isn't detectable under current testing methods. why would it be? after initially postponing due to injury, michael hancock made good on his playoff bet and performed ray lewis's signature dance. ♪

♪ >> good luck, ray, ray. >> a plus production value. coming up at the top of the hour, president obama wants immigration reform and so do members of congress. that doesn't mean there's a clear path for millions of undocumented workers. the crew will prepare various proposals. and lewis and i will place a bet on the super bowl. not which team wins, but rather jay-z will join beyonce during the show. i used to be 130 pounds, buddy. hey! did you know that honey nut cheerios

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president obama unveiled his plan for immigration yesterday in nevada claiming he was ready to offer his own bill if congress fails to act on the matter. tell your friends that according to the financial times 86% of the 11 million undocumented workers in the u.s. have been living here for seven years or longer. that amounts to about 9.5 million people. let's gather around the water cooler. >> thanks for having me. coming in from a long weekend.

>> i like your long weekend stories. >> lots of good times. i had a great weekend. i can't say the same for this guy. jason archer, 36 years old from tennessee. he was arrested friday night at a walmart after he shoplifted over $1,000 worth of merchandise. he alleged put the goods in the shopping basket and attempted to wheel it out the front door. that's where security nabbed him. he resisted and received blows to the head. they closely resemble the walmart smiley face rollback logos. >> he's the new face of walmart. >> he has no creativity e. >> i want to be the security guard. >> he could dress up like an elvis impersonator. put a little effort into it. he got what he deserves. my dad always says, winners never cheat and cheaters never

win. let's move on. we're just days from the super bowl and even if you're not interested in the outcome of the game, our friends in vegas have come up with interesting ways to earn a little money on the side with a couple prop bets. we'll start with the national anthem. the odds are in favor of alicia keys not messing up the national anthem. and beyonce's hair will be straight or curly. it's going to be curly. >> do you even understand the numbers? >> no. >> you bet $10 it's even money. continue. >> i don't get it. i put my money on her hair being curly. there's another bet on whether jay-z will join him on stage.

i don't think he will want to be associated with lip syncing. and how many times ray lewis will mention god or the lord after the game. >> i am going to bet the over. >> i'm betting my whole month's paycheck on that. >> that's not much yet. your tweets are next. >> i can't deal with your constant insults, bill. [ male announcer ] where do you turn for legal matters? at legalzoom, we've created a better place to handle your legal needs. maybe you have questions about incorporating a business you'd like to start. or questions about protecting your family with a will or living trust. and you'd like to find the right attorney to help guide you along, answer any questions and offer advice. with an "a" rating from the better business bureau legalzoom helps you get personalized and affordable legal protection. in most states, a legal plan attorney is available with every personalized document to answer any questions.

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